NEW YORK -- Goaltender Mike Richter, who backstopped the New York Rangers to their first Stanley Cup championship in 54 years but has been unable to recover from post-concussion syndrome, has decided to retire, according to ESPN The Magazine's E.J. Hradek.
The Rangers have scheduled a press conference regarding "a major player announcement" for 3 p.m. ET Thursday.
Richter, 36, missed all but 13 games last season following a seemingly minor concussion on Nov. 5 against Edmonton.
The Rangers' all-time leader in wins (301) and games (666) by a goalie, Richter enjoyed his finest season in 1993-94, when he went 42-12-6 with a career-best five shutouts and a 2.57 goals-against average. He helped New York end its storied title drought by going 16-7 with four shutouts and a 2.07 GAA in 23 playoff games.
Richter also holds single-season team records for wins, games and save percentage and played in three All-Star games.
A Pennsylvania native, he also played at the Olympics in 1988, 1998 and 2002 and almost single-handedly led the United States to the championship at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, where he was named most valuable player.
Richter was one of the best goalies in NHL history in 1-on-1 situations, stopping 10 of 11 regular-season penalty shots during his career. He also denied current Ranger Pavel Bure on a penalty shot in Game Four of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals at Vancouver.
After battling groin and knee injuries earlier in his career, Richter was struck on the side of the head by a slap shot by Atlanta Thrashers defenseman Chris Tamer in the first period of a game on March 22, 2002.
The injury was diagnosed as a fractured temporal bone and Richter missed the final nine games of the 2001-02 season. Less than eight months later, on November 5, he took an accidental knee to the forehead from Edmonton Oilers center Todd Marchant and sustained a minor concussion.
Richter never returned and only recently received clearance to resume exercising and playing golf.
In a career spent entirely with the Rangers, Richter posted a 301-258-63 record with 24 shutouts and a 2.89 GAA.
Information from SportsTicker was used in this report.
Mike Richter Goaltender New York Rangers
CAREER STATISTICS GM W L T SV% GAA 666 301 258 73 .904 2.89
Die Rangers kriegen ja mit CuJo nen neuen Sahnetorwart vorgesetzt...
If you can't beat em, at least beat'em up ! Norrie/Rich/Tasker/Verbeek/Lakos - Toledo Storm Fighting Brigade 2001 "We are team tough, and that includes our fans."- Toledo Storm GM Pat Pylypuik "Toledo is nothing but a bunch of goons who would even mug the pope if he had skates on !" - Ein Dayton Bombers Fan
Schade! Ein großer Goalie, auch wenn er mE nicht in einer Kategorie ist mit einem Dominik Hasek, Martin Brodeur oder Patrick Roy. Dazu waren seine überragenden Jahre zu wenig und später stand er auch ganz einfach in einem zu großen Chaos.
Ne Freundin von mir war als Au-Pair in der Nähe von NY, da wo die Trainingshalle der Rangers steht. Sie war regelmäßig beim Training und hat auch Mike Richter kennengelernt. Seitdem schwärmt sie von diesem ungemein sympathischen Menschen. Schade, den Rangers wird genau diese menschliche Komponente fehlen...
"Eishockey ist doch ganz einfach, man muss sich nur den Puck schnappen und ins Tor schießen." (Brian Sutter, Head-Coach und Ex-Spieler der Chicago Blackhawks)
In Antwort auf:Ne Freundin von mir war als Au-Pair in der Nähe von NY, da wo die Trainingshalle der Rangers steht. Sie war regelmäßig beim Training und hat auch Mike Richter kennengelernt. Seitdem schwärmt sie von diesem ungemein sympathischen Menschen.
Rangers Training herrscht wie sau!!
Aber schade das es so für ihn endet. AustrianGiant#7 created by LOTB Angeblich wird ja nächste Saison alles besser, da bin ich mal gespannt!!